REVIEW: 'Youth Pattern' by Lahos
Lahos
A Step Into The Unknown.
On his latest EP, 'Youth Pattern', Lahos provides the grooves to keep us dancing all summer long.
"As 2020 was super weird…I decided to go weird as well." The latest EP by Lahos,' Youth Pattern', is a brilliantly genre-less and uplifting response to the pandemic that sways from futuristic beats to retro synths and, when needed, even a punkish vocal delivery. Having dropped his major record label for an indie one, 'Youth Pattern' was a step into the unknown, both artistically and in terms of his career. But this brave new chapter for the Berlin-based producer has ultimately paid off. The result is a diverse record that sits Bowie-like vocal lines on top of a techno drive, with every song eventually ending in a roaring climax that leaves you daydreaming of nothing but summer festivals.
On top of each track being musically interesting, joyous, and then cathartic, one thing that really shines through is the love that Lahos has for writing about people and places. "Dayslide", the fourth song on the EP, and the last he produced under the watch of Sony Columbia, is a great place to start. Because of its more commercial origins, Lahos referred to this song as "the wolf in an alternative secondhand jacket," however it definitely doesn't sound at all out of place on this EP. "Dayslide" sees Lahos collaborate with vocalist Thala and channel the romance of previous summer days spent sleeping off hangovers in the afternoon sun. Thala's vocal captures this perfectly when she sings, "after the morning high, we leave it all behind, we let the day slide."
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Lahos called this track "a little sunset lover," but this song is far more than just a hazy summer tune, and you could certainly see this being a hit this summer. Something I particularly loved is how Thalia's vocal holds an intimacy similar to Lana Del Rey but then can suddenly snap into a Katy Perry-like roar and deliver a huge hook at any moment. This song really is one massive earworm, and as the synths ride out around the looping vocal hook, the only disappointment is that it has to end eventually.
While many of these songs have this euphoric summer festival, feel to them, "Bright Eyes" is an excellent example of the EP's diversity and sets an entirely different scene. The distorted vocal and the lurking instrumental feel like we've been pulled into a dingy Berlin club, and it makes complete sense to learn that Tame Impala and MGMT were the influences behind this song. Despite being "more a band song than a producer's song," "Bright Eyes" still keeps its dancy edge, and the closing moments of this are by far my favorite on the EP. The trumpet, the keys, the distorted bassline, and the repeating synths remind me of some of Foals's later music, and it's hard not to love it. "Bright Eyes" is about "finding a way out of bad habits and dark spaces… there's always a special pair of eyes giving you the inspiration you need to light up the way." Even though this song was built with a whole different palette of instruments and sounds, it is still undeniably very Lahos in how the main aim of the song is clearly to get you dancing. Also, on this track, we get to meet Lahos as a vocalist, and apparently, this EP is the first time he has ever used his voice in his music. It's hard to believe that this is his debut on the mic, he sounds like he's been there for years, and I look forward to many more songs like this. I think going indie was a good move.
All in all, this EP is filled with great music and imagery, and I can see these songs becoming the soundtrack to many moments over the coming months. Whether you're listening from your Brooklyn apartment, a lake in Berlin, or late one night this summer, wherever you may be, the world needs more music like this, and I can't wait to live with these songs.
Written by George Barnett
Photo by Debora Brune